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WHAT DERBY OWNER MEL MORRIS SAID

Morris, in attendance at Lampard’s unveiling, moved to play down suggestions that a deal was on the cards because of the financial restrictions in place, following Derby’s own unsuccessful promotion venture.

“It’s impossible to spend at the level we have year after year after year,” said Morris.

“FFP (Financial Fair Play) is very real, we take it very seriously, and we’ve been a big advocate of FFP.

Meanwhile, back in China, Xia is exploring options to fund the 2018/19 campaign and help make Villa a success.

But with a limit on capital outflow, moving money out of his homeland has become increasingly difficult in recent times.

It’s one of the reasons why Villa have had to cut back in the last two transfer windows.

Financial Fair Play is also another major problem. Last week we reported that Villa need to find £40million to fall in line with the regulations and it’s becoming apparent that a sale of Jack Grealish is inevitable.